[Lal]

OK. That is it.
– Everyone is entitled to their opinions. If you are happy with yours, that is fine.

[Lal]

I am glad to hear that we are making progress, ikoren.

Let us look at your main issue from your latest post:
“Lal said
“A Bodhisatta is supposed to comprehend the way to Nibbana by himself.”

This is the exact aspect I have been pointing to. If the bodhisatta can remember the true dhamma from his previous lives. He is not comprehending the way to nibanna by himself anymore than the arahant does upon instruction..”

Let us take the specific case of our Bodhisatta who had cultivated anariya jhana (with instructions from Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta) and had the ability to recall his interactions with Buddha Kassapa.
– Recalling a past life means exactly recalling his OWN experiences. He was not recalling what Buddha Kassapa said, but what he heard.
– There is a BIG difference between those two.
– If bhikkhu Jotipala was unable to comprehend what Buddha Kassapa was saying at that time, as ascetic Siddhatta he would have just recalled the same things.

You may want to read my next post this weekend. It is on this subject of recalling past events. There are few people being studied by scientists. Those people have “perfect memories” without cultivating jhana (It is due to punna iddhi, a type of kamma vipaka). They can recall and re-live any arbitrary day in the past several years.
– They don’t have higher intelligence compared to an average person. They just can recall past events even moment-by-moment as if playing back a recorder. They experience the same feelings as if they are experiencing that event right now.

The bottom line is that ascetic Siddhatta was not able to gain any NEW knowledge by recalling his interactions with Buddha Kassapa. If he was unable to make progress with what he heard then, he would not be able to make progress by recalling the same things.

Think about a person living now, who has been taught the correct Dhamma now. Suppose he is unable to comprehend it and make progress. He dies and is reborn a few years later again a human. Suppose he cultivates jhana and is able to recall what he learned in the past life.
– There is no difference between that and him again learning the same stuff from another teacher.
– Even in that latter life, he may or may not be able to make progress, using either approach (recalling or learning from a new teacher.)
– It is not the words that matter. That is the bottom line. Learning (memorizing) and comprehension are two different things.

[Lal]

I have a hard time trying to understand what you are saying in the following (which seems to be a big issue for you): “The problem is the same one I outlined above, if the buddha preceding his awakening had gained the ability to see his past lives, which the Tipitaka claims he had, even in a mundane sense, he would have had the ability to remember learning the dhamma underneath the Buddha Kassapa and could have used that to gain awakening for himself. This would undermine the spirit of suttas depicting the Buddha being without a teacher and the idea that he needed to cultivate the paramitas over aeons in order to be able to reach this enlightenment without aid..”

Ascetic Siddhatta (before becoming the Buddha) probably had attained the ability to see his past lives. He has cultivated anariya jhana which he learned from Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta.
– So, he probably saw that he was a bhikkhu under Buddha Kassapa.
– How does that change anything?

A Bodhisatta is supposed to comprehend the way to Nibbana by himself. Even if Buddha Kassapa spent months and months instructing him, he would not have been able to “learn the way” from Buddha Kassapa.
– In fact, I remember Waharaka Thero mention the following in a discourse. It seems that after becoming a bhikkhu under Buddha Kassapa, bhikkhu Jotipala (our Bodhisatta at that time) tried hard to make progress, but could not. He told Buddha Kassapa that he is unable to make progress. That is when Buddha Kassapa looked into it and realized that Bhikkhu Jotipala is going to attain the Buddhahood.
– Before that 27 other Buddhas had also confirmed (gave niyata vivarana) that our Bodhisatta was going to become a Buddha.
– Many people think that a Bodhisatta knows at any time that he is going to become a Buddha. That is not so. Until Buddha Kassapa told him about it, he probably had no idea. Remember that in the Ghatikara Sutta, Jotipala even did not want to meet Buddha Kassapa at first.

We need to settle this issue first.

Please read the following post too regarding this issue:
“Pāramitā and Niyata Vivarana – Myths or Realities?”

As I stated in my first reply, attaining anariya jhana (or recalling past lives) is NOT a big deal. It does not guarantee any magga phala let alone a Buddhahood.
– Even any animal living today would have been a Brahma many times over in the past. That means it would have attained jhanas many times over in its previous lives.
– Rebirth process has no discernible beginning. We all (meaning ALL living beings, not just humans) have been born in good and bad realms many times over.
– This is why I am saying that one cannot think about these in simple terms.

I am not sure whether you read the previous posts that I suggested. I suggest certain posts because I don’t want to write the same stuff over and over.

[Lal]

Sorry. I do not have time to get into discussions about these strange analyses by bhikkhus Sujato, Brahmali, and Analayo about EBTs (Early Buddhist Texts).

First of all, EBT is incorrect terminology.
– What are “New Buddhist Texts” (NBT)?
– If there are NBTs whose teachings are they?
– Are there any “new teachings” that appeared after the Buddha? If so, they would not be Buddha Dhamma!

There is ONLY ONE EBT. That is the Tipitaka, the Pali Canon.
– Now, there are Chinese Agama texts (translation of the Tipitaka in Chinese). It seems to me that it would be fine IF the translation to Chinese is correct. I don’t know Chinese, so I cannot comment on that.

On pp. 9-10 of the text by Bhikkhus Sujato and Brahmali that you quoted, they provide definitions for EBTs and non-EBTs.

Their definitions are INCORRECT.

1. The ONLY EBT is the Tipitaka. It has Sutta Piṭaka, Vinaya Piṭaka, and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka.
– In their definition, they only include the Sutta Piṭaka as EBT.
– Even worse, they include all sorts of OLD TEXTS in Tibetan, Chinese, and Indian (Sanskrit) as EBT. Those are DERIVED from the original Pali Canon. In addition, most Sanskrit texts were “made-up”. See, “Saddharma Pundarika Sutra (Lotus Sutra) – A Focused Analysis”

2. They list Abhidhamma as non-EBT. I guess that is because it was finalized at the Third Council. But as I explained in my previous comment, it took a long time to finalize the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. But it is quite clear (due to self-consistency) that Abhidhamma is part of Buddha’s teachings. Abhidhamma is self-consistent within and also with the other two Piṭaka.

That is why I do not want to continue this discussion. There is a basic flaw at the root. Such discussions do not lend to learning Buddha Dhamma. They may be good topics for philosophical discussions, but I am not interested in such discussions.

If you have questions about Bodhisatta concept, please ask a question without quoting those texts.
– What is wrong with the Bodhisatta concept? A Bodhisatta is someone who is striving to attain the Buddhahood over many, many lives.
– Yes. There were many Buddhas in the past. What is wrong with that?

[Lal]

Hello, lkoren!

“I have recently taken a heavy interest in understanding what suttas of the Pali Canon can be reliably, and generally understood to be attributed to the buddha and what are later additions.”
– It is good to do that.
– I have found that the Tipitaka (Pali Canon) is 100% self-consistent and can be reliably attributed to the Buddha.
– Finding that self-consistency is the key. What hinders that, is the incorrect translation of the Tipitaka by many.

Yes. What you say about Abhidhamma is correct. Buddha only explained the Abhidhamma material to Ven. Sariputta in summary form. It took several generations of bhikkhus to expand it to the form that we have today. Again, self-consistency is the way to judge.

1. “…According to the Ghatikara Sutta, he had ordained and learned all of the buddha Kassapa’s teachings and had practiced insight meditation right up to stream-entry.”

– The error here is indicated in bold. A Bodhisatta, by definition, would not attain stream-entry (Sotapanna stage). He would attain ALL magga phala with the Buddhahood.

2. Correct. One could cultivate mundane jhana and get to “see” previous lives. In fact, we all have done that in our previous lives, many times over.

3. Yes. That is consistent with #2.

The bottom line is that attaining jhana has NOTHING to do with attaining magga phala and making progress towards Nibbana. Of course, attaining even anariya jhana CAN HELP. But that can happen ONLY IF one is taught the correct Dhamma, including correct explanations of Tilakkhana, Paticca Samuppada, etc.

That should explain everything else. If there are further questions, please feel free to ask.

As for who believes in rebirth and not, is up to that person.
– But one thing is very clear. Buddha Dhamma is all about stopping the suffering-filled rebirth process.
– Thus, if one does not believe in the rebirth process, that means he/she has a long way to go, even to get started. See, “Buddhism without Rebirth and Nibbāna?”

Regarding self-consistency: “Buddha Dhamma: Non-Perceivability and Self-Consistency”

P.S. If there are any questions about the above two posts, or on any post at the website, please refer to the post and the relevant bullet #. That would make it easier to discuss.

[Lal]

Hello Zapper,

Yes. My niramisa sukha has built up over the years.
– It is not anything deep or mysterious.

Amisa sukha, the opposite of niramisa sukha, is the “happiness” one feels when engaged in sensory pleasures. For example, eating a delicious meal, the joyous feeling when buying a new house, or getting a promotion at work.

Those “pleasures” are temporary. Furthermore, they lead directly or indirectly to suffering ranging from just discomfort to real suffering.

On the other hand, niramisa sukha is the relief one gets when one starts seeing those bad consequences of amisa sukha.
– Fewer burdens lead to less agitation of the mind.
– Less agitation of the mind means easier to grasp deeper Dhamma, which in turn leads to less mental agitation.
So, it is a positive loop that leads to accelerated progress.

[Lal]

Yes. The translation is correct. But it obviously DOES NOT refer to ALL females.
– There were many women who attained stages of magga phala, and many were Arahants.

The point here is that SOME women CAN HAVE such qualities.

In the same way, there are some prominent qualities reserved for SOME men.
– They CAN BE aggressive, for example.

In other words, while men tend to show hostility outwardly and spontaneously, women tend to keep anger inward for long times and make appropriate plans with a foul mindset.
– Those are general “gati” for men and women of BAD CHARACTER.

Furthermore, one’s gati (and correspondingly sex in future births) can and will change.
– In other words, just because one is a male in this life DOES NOT mean that he will stay a male forever. As gati change, female births WILL happen in the future.

There are many posts on gati on the website and can be found by a search. For example:
“9. Key to Ānapānasati – How to Change Habits and Character (Gati)“

[Lal]

Added part 6 of the Series to Waharaka TV transcriptions of Waharaka Thero’s Desanas listed in my post on July 10, 2020, above.

– It was sent to me by Patighosa Hojan (Hojanyun). Thanks, Hojanyun!

[Lal]

“If there’s a way to get a response from one in a coma about whether or not they want to be on life support..”

Yes. There is.
– The video in #7 explains that process.
– They ask the patient to visualize “playing tennis” if the answer is yes. If the answer is “no” the patient is asked to visualize walking to the kitchen. Different parts of the brain “light-up” in the brain scan for those two responses.
– Watch the video carefully.

“If a coma patient is able to communicate to be taken off of life support, is it a form of suicide?”

Yes. But I rather not get into kammic consequences. Those are complex issues.

[Lal]

The post in question: “Persistent Vegetative State – Buddhist View”

Good observations, Lang!

In #4, the gandhabba is alive but is TOTALLY unaware of what is going on.
– Since there are no arammana (thought objects) coming in, the mind is totally INACTIVE. It is similar to being unconscious or in deep sleep. If the brain is totally damaged, even thoughts of past memories cannot come in, as we will discuss in the next post.
– Since there is no hope of repairing the brain, it seems taking such a patient off of the life-support should be fine.
– In a way, it is sort of like releasing that gandhabba from a prison. Once the physical body is dead, the gandhabba can come out and be “eligible” to get into another womb.

In #5, the gandhabba is fully aware of what is going on. As those videos show, some of them can fully recover.
– If there is only minor damage to certain areas of the brain, the brain can “repair itself.” This is called “brain plasticity.” One can Google “brain plasticity” and read about it. That is how some of them recover with time.
– So, it is correct to say that disconnecting life-support would count as taking a life in this case.
– In this case, physicians can use the brain scan technique of #7 to ask and get a “yes” or “no” answer from the patient whether he/she wants to continue on life-support (if the family wants to pursue that path). But as we can see, in some cases, patients may recover even after many years!

[Lal]

Triplegemstudent wrote to me and we had a discussion via email. I am just going to post one of my emails and his last email.

My email:

This issue was discussed at:
“Post on “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)”
The essence of the discussion is in my following reply there, close to the top of the thread, was as follows:

“Dr. J Chakma wrote: “Out of 4 antakkappas a living being spend 3 anatakkappas (i.e. 75% time of a mahakappa) in Brahma realm (Abhassara) and enjoy jhanic pleasure. However, Buddha told this sansara is full of suffering (dukha and dukkha). So, a being even if it spent rest of the mahakappa in apayas, the being still spends 75% of time in Good realm (abhassara realm). So, theoretically a being enjoys more than it suffers.”

That is correct.
But as you said after that, the suffering, while it lasts, is unbearable.

To get a perspective consider the following scenario: If one is given the opportunity to enjoy all the comforts in the world for 9 months on the condition that one would then be subjected to various forms of torture (burned alive, cut into pieces only to reassembled instantaneously and to go through the whole process again, etc) incessantly for the next 3 months, would that be acceptable?

I don’t think one would even agree to one day of such suffering even for 9 months of luxurious living.”

Then I asked the Triplegemstudent:
Would you take that offer?
Imagine the worst suffering that you ever experienced in your life.
– Suffering in an apaya is MUCH worse. We can get a glimpse of it by thinking about an animal in the wild (not a pet). How many old animals are in a jungle? They are eaten alive as soon as they get a bit old.

Following is part of the final response of the Triplegemstudent:

“I read the whole discussion before and that’s why the idea/thought came to my mind. I wasn’t able to find a satisfactory answer including what you, myself or anyone answered. In my previous e-mail before this one, what I was trying to say was what I came to realize is what me and Dr. J Chakam is/was thinking/saying how we spend more time in the Brahma realms and therefore “should” be enjoying more pleasure is the wrong/incorrect thinking.

Because rather one is enjoying more pleasure or suffering, it’s still Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta in any of the 31 realms of existence. As long as we’re stuck in the rebirth process Sansara, not attaining Magga phala or Nibbana, the end result is always more suffering. And like you said, the suffering in the apaya is much worse and possibly greater > than any pleasures we receive.

So even when I get to enjoy 9 months of pleasure, that’s still Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta. That 9 months of pleasure is Anatta, unfruitful/no essence/no refuge. That would be the same as the 3 months suffering for it.

Because that 9 and 3 months is both Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta I shouldn’t/don’t want to even to get involved with the pleasure or suffering in the first place because all that is Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta. It’s better to attain Magga Phala/Nibbana, so that I don’t even have to make such a decision/or be in that position like in your example in the first place.

This is what I meant when I said, what me and Dr. J Chakma was thinking is wrong/incorrect.”

My comment:

I am impressed by his reply.
He wrote: “So even when I get to enjoy 9 months of pleasure, that’s still Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta. That 9 months of pleasure is Anatta, unfruitful/no essence/no refuge. That would be the same as the 3 months suffering for it.”

He realized the deeper aspect of it. That is in a way the First Noble Truth that the Buddha was trying to explain.
– What we PERCEIVE to be a pleasure (in sensory pleasures or even in jhanic pleasures in those Brahma realms) has “hidden suffering.” The more one is enamored by them, the more difficult it becomes to be able to free of ALL future suffering.

[Lal]

Good question in #1.

There, chaṭ­ṭhā­yata­na refers to just the mind (sixth ayatana).

As explained in that post, this is about how a vipaka vinnana arises.
– The arammana is grasped by the mind.
– As you can see, when that vipaka vinnana comes in, the PS process starts at “saṅ­khā­ra­ pac­cayā viññāṇaṃ” and NOT “avijjā pac­cayā saṅ­khā­ra­”

If one’s mind decides that the arammana is “enticing” or “distasteful” (at the vottapana stage; see #15) then it will start doing sankhara possibly with other ayatana as well. That process will start as “avijjā pac­cayā saṅ­khā­ra­” and will get to salayatana (instead of just chaṭ­ṭhā­yata­na).
– I just revised #18 of that post to emphasize this point.

Second question::

2) In the case of a uppatti PS cycle, is it possible for a single cycle to span more than 2 jati (births) or even more than 2 bhavas?

No. Each uppatti PS cycle leads to ONE bhava.
– Of course, it may just provide more strength to an existing bhava that matches the sankhara that one is doing in that process.

[Lal]

The following post is by firewns:

Lal,

Thank you for your previous replies.

I think there was a question which you missed answering:

1) In your post on ‘Avyakata Paticca Samuppada for Vipaka Viññana’, what is chaṭ­ṭhā­yata­na which you mentioned in #8 related to ‘nama paccaya chaṭ­ṭhā­yata­na?

In addition, I have a new question:

2) In the case of a uppatti PS cycle, is it possible for a single cycle to span more than 2 jati (births) or even more than 2 bhavas?

Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

[Lal]

Many suttas have been badly mistranslated due to a lack of understanding of key concepts on the part of the translator.

The passage that you quoted should be translated as :
“Bhikkhus, if wanderers who follow another path were to ask you: ‘Reverends, what was the ascetic Gotama’s usual meditation during the rainy season residence?’ You should answer them like this. ‘Reverends, the ascetic Gotama’s usual meditation during the rainy season residence was immersion in Anapanasati.”

Translating Anapanasati as “breath meditation” is a serious error.
– Translating bhikkhu as a “mendicant” or a “beggar” is a serious error too.

Engaging in Anapanasati is to contemplate the anicca, dukkha, anatta nature of this world. Alternatively, it is also “taking in the eightfold path” and “discarding the opposite (miccha ditthi through miccha samadhi)”.
– For those on the Noble path (those who have understood the meaning) that would make them progress on the Path towards various magga phala and eventually to Arahanthood.
– For those who have already attained Arahanthood (or the Buddhahood), as well as those who are still on the Noble Path, it also leads to a pleasant state of mind (including jhanic experiences).

That last point may raise questions. If the Buddha (or an Arahant) has already discarded the opposites of the Noble Path Factors, then why do they need to engage in Anapanasati?
– Because that provides relief to the mind.
– Even Arahants have “agitation of the mind” (NOT defilements) due to kamma vipaka. They also have bodily dukkha/sukha vedana due to kamma vipaka as everyone else.
– There are several suttas that state clearly that contemplation of Tilakkhana is advised for all, including Arahants.

Engaging in Anapanasati is also referred to as “Brahama vihara” in several suttas, including the Karaniyamatta Sutta. “Karaniya Metta Sutta – Metta Bhavana”
– Dealing with average humans causes distress in the mind, even for a Buddha. One time, some bhikkhus started breaking up into two factions and when he could not get them to settle the dispute, the Buddha went into the forest and spent some time by himself.

[Lal]

y not and Tripelgemstudent:

The four phases of a “world cycle” (formation phase, existing phase, destruction phase, remaining in that destroyed phase) are each 20 antakkappas.

The Buddha did not give the extent of 20 antakkappas in terms of billions of years.
– In the Agganna Sutta, he just stated that it is a “very long time.”
– When asked to give a simile he gave the following simile (in a different sutta): “Consider a granite mountain that is 7 yojanas in all 3 dimensions (a cube). If one were to sweep over the mountain with a cloth once every 100 years, the time to wear out the mountain is that time.”

I did an estimate of that time in one of the early posts. That may have where I got the 20 billion number. I just checked on Google and see that the lifetime of the Sun is 10-12 billion years. But that is not necessarily the lifetime of Earth, which could be longer. It may have taken a long time for the Sun to initiate the fusion process in the core.

So, I think the 20 billion number is good enough to get an idea. Of course, we do not know the correct value.
– It is good enough just to get an idea that it is a “very long time.”

I think this discussion has gone far enough.

If there is a critical issue to address here, please send me an email with a BRIEF description.
– If such a critical issue is there, I will post it and address it.

[Author]

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